


All Along The Watchtower

by Coraleeveritas



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Two Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-09
Updated: 2013-06-09
Packaged: 2017-12-14 11:14:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/836280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coraleeveritas/pseuds/Coraleeveritas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Night's Watch can be a cold and lonely place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> On Sunday's I write drabbles, so here's my first J/B fic that's still canon compliant (ish)
> 
> Title from a song by Bob Dylan
> 
> Nothing belongs to me

It was cold on top of the wall, a bitter cold that seeped into blood and bones as easily as it moved through the air. Brienne had spent her morning pacing along the ice at the edge, looking out over the purity of a freshly snow covered world. There were no women in the Night's Watch, the sworn brothers had taken an oath to never take wives or father children, but Lord Commander Snow had allowed her to stay after seeing her skills with a sword. It had helped too that she didn't look particularly womanly, her body shape and height helped but with the recent scars around her neck and at her cheek she figured she must look virtually hideous. 

The men had left her alone for the most part, most of them not knowing her history with Renly Baratheon, the Starks or Jaime Lannister. She preferred it that way, to not have to talk to any of them, though Lord Snow sometimes sought her out to find her undertaking Night's Watch duties on top of the wall or in the yard. He had told her that there was no obligation, she was a guest at Castle Black, but Brienne felt useless when he had even suggested that she should stay in her room and try to keep warm.

So she paced and kept a look out for riders and white walkers. Recent skirmishes had left the Watch low on men and despite her gender, or maybe because of it, she was one of the strongest knights currently in Westeros and it made sense to her to work.

Even if it was to keep her mind busy and off other things.

Like a certain greying, one handed lion who had disappeared into the wilderness several days earlier and left her with an ache in her heart.

Every time she closed her eyes she could still see the ghost of Catelyn Stark standing over her, Oathkeeper in her hands and Ser Jaime's body sprawled on the ground, seemingly unconscious. There had been more scars to add to her collection that day, a slice out of her thigh and another deep into her shoulder, but worse than the fever that followed were the dreams.

She still had no recollection of how Ser Jaime got them to the wall, she had slipped in and out of consciousness so many times she thought death would soon follow. His voice brought her back from the brink each time, to feel the cold in her bones before slipping back into dreams where Lady Stoneheart took the lives of everyone she had ever held dear. 

The wind sang around her head, like the sounds of the summer birds that had long ago flown south to escape the frozen north. Brienne pulled her furs up around her ears and rubbed her hands together, numb despite layers of wool and fur gloves.

A spot on the horizon caught her eye and she squinted as it suddenly turned and started to head towards the wall rapidly. Gesturing to the nearest man alongside her, Brienne began to walk, no jog, carefully along the ice to see if there was anyway she could get a closer look. Her face may be a mess but her eyesight was still excellent.

"Riders", the cry went out and Brienne felt a weight descend onto her shoulders as the horn rang out once to signal returning friends. From what she could see there were only two riders coming back and Ser Jaime set out with at least four.

What if...? No, she forced herself to stop that train of thought, this was Ser Jaime Lannister, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Kingslayer and one of the best sword hands in the land. Even if that hand had been taken from him in a field on the way to Harenhaal. He couldn't be taken out by something as stupidly mediocre as the cold.

But bigger men than Ser Jaime were failing every day as the cold took ahold of the world. 

At night as the winds whistled and the snow pattered against her window, Brienne wished for the spring rains and the warmth of the only home she'd felt comfortable in.

Her face must have given her inner thoughts away as the men around her began to whisper and laugh, the riders nearly upon them. 

"Do you want to go down to meet them?" a large red faced man asked her kindly, Brienne still couldn't put names to all the faces but this brother was one of the regulars that would stand alongside her as she watched. 

"I think...I want...I need", Brienne stuttered as she found she couldn't put her thoughts into words. The man smiled back at her and she thought that there was a moment of pity in his features before he gestured her into the lift that would take her down to the ground.

The ride down, usually only a couple of minutes long, stretched into an eternity as it swung and shook under her weight and the gale force winds.

Brienne's heart stopped as the lift hit the ground and she was out and running before the brothers had secured the structure. There were a few expletives yelled after her but she heard nothing but the blood rushing in her ears.

"Brienne?" a familiar voice, hoarse but completely unmistakable, "Wench, what are you doing?"

The horses had skidded to a halt in front of her and she met Ser Jaime's eyes for a second before he dismounted. Brienne thought he looked thin again, almost as thin as he was in the hazy heat of the Harrenhal baths, but they were all thinner these days.

"Brienne?" he questioned again, waiting for some kind of response. She realised that she probably had been stood still too long, simply just staring at the fact that he was still alive and in front of her once again.

In that moment, her head so full of conflicted emotions and her heart just full again, she flung her arms around him and pulled Ser Jaime against her.

"I missed you too Brienne."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Night's Watch doesn't have to be so lonely if you are there with the right person

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wrote another bit for this and it turned out fluffy. 
> 
> Oh well, enjoy anyway :)

"I missed you too Brienne."

Jaime was frozen, muscles aching from a four day ride that had gone nowhere and he was pretty sure there were icicles hanging in his beard. He longed for a bath, warm and inviting like at Harenhaal. Though maybe without the maiming that led him there.

He had felt the wench, Brienne he corrected, watching him from the sky long before he could see her. Of course she wouldn't be resting and recuperating from her most recent wounds, she would of course be taking on far more than anyone would expect her to in the situation. 

Stupid, stubborn girl.

Lord Snow hadn't spoken on any impropriety as he had welcomed them into Castle Black, Jaime half carrying the blonde warrior woman who was still delirious from the fever and horrors of taking down Lady Stoneheart and the Brotherhood Without Banners. He had demanded that he stayed with her after the Maester had seen to her cuts and bruises. He had tried to treat Jaime's wounds too but Jaime had shrugged him off and made him look at the girl first.

The girl that had screamed and cried through her nightmares on the road and he had found himself wanting to hold her, if only to keep her quiet and hidden from the bandits and wolves never too far away.

Castle Black, cold as it was, was a generally welcome place. For Brienne at least. He had met the Snow boy a lifetime ago, but he was still Ned Starks son despite the name given to him and Jaime had wronged the Starks to protect the woman he loved.

Women he loved? The thought came into his head unbidden from time to time and he quickly shook it away before it led to dangerous places. 

He had volunteered for the scouting trip, a suicide mission the brothers had warned him and Jaime Lannister or no, he wasn't a ranger. He didn't have the training or the experience to survive four days in the wilds of the frozen north. But he needed to do something other than sit and rot in Castle Black, waiting for his road companion to find her strength again. Even if that something was likely as horror filled as the last few weeks.

He had meant to find somewhere safe, to find Sansa Stark and take her back to the burning husk of Winterfell before heading south and delivering Brienne home to Tarth. She would have hated him for taking her out of the fight, even briefly, but no where was truly safe anymore as the Dragon Queen roamed the skies looking for traitors and deserters.

Brienne had been running towards him as he and the only other man to survive the trip had been let into the yard, and despite himself, despite the hell of the situation he actually found himself smiling. She hadn't said a word as he dismounted, mouth hanging slightly open leaving her prominent teeth on display and stretching the bandage over her damaged cheek. Her cheeks were pink from the wind, furs pulled up high to keep her longer, slightly curling hair out of her eyes. Her eyes that sparkled as he approached, the only sign that his return was actually affecting her.

And then she had her strong arms around him, pulling him tight against her as if she never wanted to let him out of her sight again. "I missed you too", he whispered into her ear, the warm air from his breath sending a shiver through her despite the temperature around them. 

The men were staring Jaime knew, and they probably had a few choice words about the softness of women and the unsuitability of the gender in war time. But they'd never seen Brienne take down three men on her own when he was still bound or try and take down a bear with a tourney sword. If all she wanted was a little comfort, a little warmth then he was happy to provide it.

He told her that all the way back to her room before he closed the door and kissed her for the first time.

Women he loved may have been closer to the truth than he had ever realised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading
> 
> Feedback is appreciated :)


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